Senators get revenge, finally beat Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe had been nearly unbeatable to start the season -- until he ran into the Ottawa Senators.

Martin Havlat had two goals and an assist as the Senators solved Irbe in a 6-2 win over the Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

The Senators came in 4-16-2 against the Hurricanes on the road but snapped Carolina's two-game winning streak and were the first team to get to Irbe, who had stopped 61-of-62 shots against the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars as Carolina won its first two.

"He had two shutouts in a row against us last year, so we were ready to give it to him back," Havlat said. "He's a great goalie, but we were better tonight."

There was no argument from Irbe.

"I just stunk," Irbe said. "I've got to stop a few more than that. Six is too much -- I don't care what kind of goals they were."

Defenseman Chris Phillips, playing in his first game since injuring his shoulder in the preseason, helped ice it for Ottawa, scoring on a screen shot with 13:11 left to make it 4-2.

Phillips had his first shot blocked high in the slot, but the puck bounced right back to him and he sailed a high shot into the net that Irbe never saw.

"On a couple of those goals, the puck had eyes," Irbe said. "And a couple more I misjudged the situation a little and pretty much got burned on everything."

Todd White and Havlat then scored in a 1:15 span late in the third to seal it.

"I don't know if it was a lack of respect or what," Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley said of Ottawa's attack until the very end. "Obviously they put us away the old-fashioned way. We'll take a lesson from it."

Marian Hossa added a goal and two assists for Ottawa.

"That was our twin brother -- the ugly, disgusting one," Carolina left winger Jeff O'Neill said. "We just didn't have enough guys compete hard enough to win, and that's the bottom line. We had about five minutes of intense hockey."

Carolina was 0-for-8 on the power play in its previous two wins but scored twice with the man advantage against Ottawa. Sami Kapanen netted one in the first and O'Neill added his second of the season midway through the second to cut into Ottawa's 3-1 lead.

Ron Francis assisted on Carolina's first two goals to give him 1,140 for his career, moving the Hurricanes captain within 29 of Ray Bourque for second on the career list.

Carolina took a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into an elbowing penalty against Havlat 8:46 into the game as Francis set up Kapanen with a sharp pass at the base of the right circle.

The Senators tied it 22 seconds later when Hossa stripped Carolina defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh at center ice and broke in alone on Irbe, who shut out Ottawa twice last season in a four-day span.

Ottawa added another goal less than five minutes later as Sami Salo's hard shot from the point went wide off the boards and right onto the stick of a streaking Havlat, who easily poked it past a diving Irbe.

"You can't panic," Hossa said when asked about Carolina's first-period lead on its third straight opponent. "We've learned that. We just had to keep playing the same game we talked about in the dressing room. The second goal was a key. That kept us going."

Hossa also assisted on Mike Fisher's goal 8:13 into the second after a giveaway by the Carolina defense that gave the Senators a two-goal lead.

Notes: Daniel Alfredsson played in his 400th game with Ottawa. ... Shane Willis had a team-high four goals against the Senators last season but sat out his third straight game for Carolina with a back injury. ... Carolina was held without a shot for more than 10 1/2 minutes at the start of the second period. ... The Senators have allowed seven power-play goals in their first four games.